Delray Honors Ex-eyesores, New Designs

DELRAY BEACH -- A recent beauty contest for buildings put the spotlight on attractive constructions ranging from lifeguard stands and a car dealership to a restored home and a funeral parlor.

Awards given by the Community Appearance Board singled out 16 outstanding architectural and aesthetic contributions to Delray Beach.

Top honors went to Jane Baxter for the restoration of her home on Swinton Avenue and to the city of Delray Beach for a miniature reproduction on East Atlantic Avenue of the Old Refuge House.

Board Chairman Digby Bridges, an architect, showed slides of the award- winning structures and said the award certificates were to honor the people who put together the projects and not specifically the architects or the designers. City officials won kudos for both the lifeguard stands and the pavilion.

``They`ve done a fantastic job with the beach,`` said Bridges. ``The new lifeguard stands are attractive as well as functional.``

Bridges called upon Betty Matthews, of the Beachfront Property Owners, for her work on the pavilion.

All of the structures were built or restored within recent years, noted Leon Weekes of the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the awards presentation.

The awards will be given annually to recognize the year`s outstanding architectural and aesthetic renovations and constructions, Weekes said.

Bridges also singled out Shuler`s Memorial Chapel on West Atlantic Avenue.

``One just has to look at these slides to see what can be done to a dilapidated building,`` he said as James Shuler accepted the award certificate. ``This building was one of the first to start what we all hope is going to be the uplift of Atlantic Avenue.``

Bridges, who chose the sites along with other members of the Community Appearance Board, also praised the architecture and landscaping on the Dan Burns Oldsmobile Building on South Federal Highway and called it ``a spectacular building by night.``

``Who says auto dealerships are bad for Delray Beach?`` he said, drawing laughter from the business people assembled.